She grinned up at the sky as the rain fell in a new and heavier onslaught, pulling her hands free to catch a few stray drops. There was something about the rain she had always loved; it always seemed so free and unaffected, relying on nothing but pure chance.

Her palm pounded against the wall as she lifted her head, spinning away from the cafe with a new certainty; she would go to the park. She didn’t need to embarrass herself with Elliot. And he didn’t need to know she had almost been willing to communicate. Properly. With him. Especially with him. What was she thinking?

And as much as she had hoped to forget the confusing, otherworldly glimpse, one sentence had tied her world to it with a maddening knot. It wasn’t even a glimpse anymore, having somehow managed to become a solid part in the usually elusive whole. Madeline sighed, closing her eyes against the room in hope of an emptier darkness.

She left her feet to their own whim, letting the castle around her melt into a series of endless, indistinguishable staircases and corridors. The sweet dampness of the rain outside seemed to cling to the stone, fresh and clean overlaying a deeper, older scent that Madeline didn’t dare to explore too keenly. She felt it had probably lain forgotten too long, and histories seemed so sad and desolate-it wasn’t right to dredge it up for her own amusement.

“Nah. I mean, you’ve managed to do it really well so far, got me in on a double date and everything,” Alice rolled her eyes. “So many wheels in your non-relationship we could transport a small Muggle army.”

Madeline glared at the blonde, “I wish you’d stop calling it that. It’s not a date! It never was. I never said it was.”

“I’ll tease her for it always, but if I could come in dripping, and look like she does, well..” Alice’s lips acquired a cheeky smile, “I might as well dip my head in star shine and call myself a fairy.”

Her entire body crumpled, thudding against the wet ground with decided surety. She swore softly to herself as she searched for a will to lift herself upright, feeling all too shamed to bother with such a motion. Roger appeared at her side, but she barely noticed; dread ebbing through her as Elliot towered into her vision.